Machine for feeding sheets, labels, and the like



Aug. 9, 1927. 1,638,151

M. FEYBUSCH ET AL MACHINE FOR FEEDING SHEETS, LABELS, AND THE LIKE Filed Jan.l5, 1923 '7 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS MflRT/N F syausc PflUL W. F LE/SCI-IER ATTORNEYS 1 638,151 1927' M. FEYBUSCH ET AL MACHINE FOR FEEDING SHEETS, LABELS, AND THE LIKE Filed Jan.15,'l923 '7 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TORS m/ FEYBUSCI/ BY wqz, WJ @2965 A TTORNE YS 1 638 151 M. FEYBUSCH ET AL MACHINE FOR FEEDING SHEETS, LABELS, AND THE LIKE Filed Jan.l5, 1923 TSheets-Shegt 3 IN VENTORS M/Y/PT/N FEVBUJU/ Paul. W. FL E/SCHER A TTORNE XS Aug, 9,1927. 1,638,151

M. FEYBUSCH ET AL MACHINE FOR FEEDING SHEETS, LABELS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan.l5, 1923 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 {37W H77 26 .34 If? 3.5

INVENTORS M/mT/N FEVBUSC/l Pill/L W. FLE/SCf/ER A TTORNE KS 1638,151- 1927' M. FEYBUSCH ET AL MACHINE FOR FEEDING SHEETS, LABELS, AND THE LIKE Filed Jan.l5. 192s vsneets-sheet 5 my INVENTORS ma Mme TIA/ FEVBwcH P/IUL W. FLE/SCl/E/P ['7 0 m9 m, M5 9174 ATTORNE Yd g M. FEYBUSCH ET AL MACHINE FOR FEEDING SHEETS, LABELS,

AND THE LIKE Filed Jan.l5. 1923 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTORS A TTOR NE Ks v 1 638,151 1927' M. FEYBUSCH ET AL MACHINE FOR FEEDING SHEETS, LABELS, AND THE LIKE Fil ed Jan. l 5, 1923 7 Sheets-Sheet IN V EN TORS I90 BY I 176 75 14 5/94 ov W 74 34 ATTORNEYS Patented A... a, 1927'. I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Jun-rm mUSOH, OI NEW YOBfi; N. Y.', AND PAUL W. FLEIBOHEB, OI 'WEEELWKEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOBS TO NEW JEBSEY'HAOHINE CORPORATION, 01' HOBOKEN, rmw A CORPORATION OFNEW i p ion mama 'rs, man's, AND mm: m

Application fled Jamuu'y 15, 1923. Serial Io. 618,818.

This invention relatesto machines for re-=.

moving articles such as sheets, labels and the like from a stack of such articles and feeding them away one by one, and more articularly to'machines for performing this operation by means of suction. It is the purpose 0 the invention to provide a machine of this character which operates automatically and with great efliciency and reliability. V

The particular machine disclosed herein, as an example, has for its object to rovide novel mechanism for taking the s eet or label up from the stack and delivering it to subsequent machine parts; another 'ob'ect of the invention is to provide novel mec anism for automaticallyraising the stack of sheets or labels, that is for always bringing its upper surface to such a position that the uppermost sheet or label can readily be removed by the suction mechanism.

1 In machines of this character'it is highly desirable that their operation be coordinated with that of the machines to which themmed sheets or the like are supplied, such as for instance a can-labeling machine, a boxwra-ppin machine, or any other machine which disposes of. gummed sheets or labels. While such sheet or label-receiving and applyin machines may operate continuously,

the s eets or labelsihave to be supplied to them one by one, that is intermittently, for

the reason that the artlcles, such as cans,

boxes-and the like to which the sheets or labels are to be applied, are also supplied to 86 the machine one by one. We have therefore, according to our invention, provided means, operated from such sheet-receivin machine, either automatically or by han I whereby our feeding mechanism is operated,

not continuously, but intermittently, to feed.

sheets or labels at such intervals as is required by the operation of the sheet-receiving machine. Another feature of our invention 'relates to means for also coordinating the 5 operation of the conveyor mechanism with the operation of the label-receiving machine, so that the conveyor mechanism also will be operated intermittently. This latter means comprises an adjustment forvarying the riods of travel and of rest of the conveyor, thereby changing the distance between successive labels or sheets on'the conveyor;

Still other features of our invention relate "to the provision of means for stopping the f of the operation of the suction-feed mechanism, that is, onl

trated in Figs. 4 and 5, but she anism and a clutch for connecting suction-feed mechanism without stopping (it the other parts of the machine, and for stopplug such other parts without stopping the general drive of the machine. Special pro- V1S1OIl.lS made for permitting the arresting nism only at a time when no sheet or label is held on'the feeding member of such mechaafter the sheet or label has been delivere by said feeding member to the subsequent machine parts. We thus efiectively prevent the dropping of sheets or labels, owing to an untimely cutting ofi of the suction, before they have reached such subsequent arts.

These an other objects of the invention and its advantages w1ll appear fully from the description followin hereinafter.

Reference is to be ha to the accompanying drawings in which we have illustrated an example of our invention without defining its limit In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of our machine, with parts in section; Fig. 2 is an end elevation, also with parts in section; Fig. 3 is a transverse section, taken substantially online 3-3 ofFig. 1,. with parts broken away or omitted for the sake of clearness;' Fig. 4 is "a longitudinal section, taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3 Fig. 5 is in art a side elevation and in part a "sectio'no' the aper-feeding and. indexing device; Fig. 5 1s a fragmentary view showing certain parts of Fig. 5, in a dlflerent position; Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view of certain parts illus- ..these '90 parts .in a different position from ig. 5;

ig. 7 shows in side elevation, with parts in section, certain cam and valve mechanism "controlling the suction; Fig. 8 is a section .on line 8-8 of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 shows in elevation, with parts in section, certain cam mechor disconnecting the cam shaft and its drive; Fig. 10 is a horizontal section of such clutch device, 'tal eggllhne 1010 of Fig. 1; Fig. 11 is 9. dated view of certain parts shown in Figs. 9 and 10; Fig. 12 is an enlarged detail view of another clutch mechanism, taken substantially on line 12-42 of Fig. 1; and Fig. l is' a artial section through a certain suction mem r shggl injligfi.

Our machine" comprises parallel-frames v 20, 21 spaced apart by transverse frame members 22. At one end of said frames 20, 21 is arranged a cross bar 23 carrying a guide 24 for a vertically movable table support 25 which carries at its upper end a table 26 serving to hold a stac of labels or other sheets of paper 27 to be gummed on our machine (Figs. 3 and 4). The table 26 is preferably somewhat inclined downwardly toward the machine and cooperates with a transversely extending stationary wall 28 against which the stack of paper 27 abuts. On the side opposite to the wall 28 the paper is held by gaging strips 29 which are adjustable transversely as well as longitudinally of the table 26, so asto make the latter suitable for the accommodation the latter being provided with a slot 33 into which extends the head of a screw 34 passing through the bracket 31, a nut. 35 in the form of a knob serving to clamp the bracket 31 to the table 26 in any adjusted position.

, shaft 43'is a bell-crank lever 44 one end of which is provided with a handle 45, while the other end carries a locking pawl 46 which serves to "hold and lock the ratchet wheel 39 while the pawl operates to feed or rotate the ratchet wheel. The lever 44 is also provided with a pin 47 which, when the lever 44 is swung toward the right (Fig. 5) engages the surface 48 on the lever 41, swinging the latter to the right and moving the pawl 40 out of contactwith the ratchet 39, so that the shaft 38 can be turned by hand to raise or lower the table 26, the shaft 38 being provided for this purpose with a hand wheel 49 (Fig. 3). The lever 41 has a recess 50 into which the pin 47 drops, thus stopping the swinging movement of the two levers 41 and 44. A spring 51 (Fig. 4) interposed between the table-slide orjsupport 25 and the guide .24 serves as a brake for the-slide 25 to prevent too sudden movement of the table26, especially during the lowering of the latter. To' a stationary bracket 52 "is secured one endlof. a coiled spring 53 (Figs; 1 and'5) the other end of which-is secured to the lever 42. This lever .is provided. with a ing 54 through which ex- 1,eas,151

frame part 56. The spring 53tends to pull the left-hand portion of the lever 42 up until the screw 55 engages the stop 56 and arrests such movement. The lever 42 is swung in the opposite directionto cause the pawl 40 to rotate the ratchet wheel 39 and thereby raise the table 26, in a manner which will be described below. I

The sheets 27 stacked on the table 26 are lifted. off one by one and removed by a feeding mechanism which will be described pressenftly (Figs. 1, 3 and 5) In suitable bearings of the frames 20, 21 is carried a transversely extending cam shaft 57 on which are mounted cam disks 58, 59 located at op-- posite sides of the machine, as shown in Fig. 3, and having cam grooves 58, 59 respectively to receive rollers 60 mounted on vertically-'extendingarms 61. These arms extend with their lower, forked ends over the shaft 57, and this arrangement, together with guides 62 provided on the frames 20,

21, serves to guide the arms 61 in a straight up-and-down path during the rotation of the cam disks 58, 59.. At their upper ends the arms 61 rotatably support a rock shaft 63 carrying rigidly at one end a crank 64 pivotally connected to the upper end of a rock arm 65 extending with its forked lower end over the cam shaft 57 and carrying above its forked .portion a roller 66 engaged by asecond cam groove 58"in the cam disk 58 as shown in Fig. 5. To the rock shaft 63 is also secured an arm 67 (Figs. 3 and 6) carrying at its lower end a suction member 68 provided with an air' chamber 69 .(Figs. 6 and 13) and having .part of its lower surface cut away as shown at 70 for the purpose of facilitating the lifting of the label or other sheet of paper.

The arm 67 is supported on the shaft 63 loosely, a spring 71 (Fig. 3) coiled around the shaft urging the arm against an adjustable stop 72 carried by a bracket 73 rigid on the shaft 63 (Figs. 3 and 6).

The suction mechanism just described serves to pick up the sheets one 'by one and" carry them over a curved inclined table 7 4 to a pair offeeding rollers 75, 76 (Figs. 4, 5 and 6) which in the particular example ofglue applying' or gumming roll 77 which provides them on one side with acoating of adhesive and from which they are removed by take-up fingers 78 and guided onto an endless conveyor 79. This conveyor, on which the sheets are held by suitable devices such as 'our invention illustrated, --feed them to a chains 80, conveys the sheets to the place of I use such as for instance a machine for applying them to the articles (boxes, cans and the like) for which theyare intended. The dc tails of the feeding rollers, gumming roll, take-upfingers and conveyor, donot form a cart of our present invention and have been a tendsla screw 55 bearing against a'stationary illustrated only in so far as they are necessary for a clear explanation ofour invention.

The construction and the relative arrangement of the cam grooves 58, 58 controlling the operation of. the suction feed mechanism appear clearly from Fig. 5.---"1he grooves 58 which control the raising'and lowering of the suction arm 67 ,68 have a long concentric portion the ends of which "are separated by a short falling and a short rising portion, so that for a relatively long period of a revolution of the cam shaft 57 the rock shaft 63 carrying the suction-arm 67, 68 is in its uppermost position. The falling, portion of the cam grooves 58- cau.:es the suction-member 68 to move down into contact with the stack of sheets 27, suction being simultaneously applied in the member 68, and the rising portion of the cam grooves 58' then causes the suction member 68 to be raised, taking the uppermost sheet of the stack with it. It will be seen that thecam'groove 58" has short falling and rising portions coinciding with those of the cam grooves 58' just described, so that the arm will be raised simultaneously with the arms .61. Instead-of the long concentric portion of the grooves 58, however, the groove 58" is provided with relatively long fallin and rising por tions the firstone of which, during the time that the arms 61 are stationary, in their upper position, causes the arm.65 to be lowered, thusrocking the shaft 63 and swinging the suction arm '67, 68 with the sheet held thereon, overthe table 74 towardthe feed rollers 7 5, 76. The sheet enters between these rollers (the suction being interrupted simul-- taneousl in a manner which will be described most sheets, an opening 81 (Fig. 6) through which air may be blown.between such sheets from a pipe82 whichreceives air under pressure from;apuinp83,.afcock 84- (Fig. 1) serving to regiilat'e'the amount of air blown through the opening 81. To further-prevent more than one sheet from being taken up. by the suction member 68, we have provided above the air opening 81, an'arresting memher, such as a brush.8 5, which serves to hold back any sheet which might tend tofollpw the'sheet' being taken away bv the suction arm. The .suction passage 69 (Fig. 6') isl-connected by' pipes 86,87- (Figs,f'2, 3 an' d 7) 3 with the suction side of thepump 83, a cutout valve 88--being interpqsp two pipes. Thisrvalve ORSlDgrilflS-QJYOPQIP hetween ithese elow) and is then fed by them to the gummin r0ll77a1'1dthence to thecon ing 88' to the outside air which is normally closed by one end of a pivoted valve" lever 89 under the tension of a SPIlHgQO, while the other end of the lever carries a roller- 91 in engagement with a peripheral cam sur- 7 face 92 on the cam disk 59 as shown in Fig. 7. n This cam surface at times] raises the roller 91,] thus 0 ening the aperture 88' in the casing 88 an allowing'air to bes'ucked into the pipe 87 through this aperture.

This will interrupt the suction in the pipe 86 and passage 69, thus releasing the sheet held on the member 68, at the moment when such sheet is engaged b' the feed rollers, 75, 76. a

The. suction may a sobe interrupted, either 30 V manually or mechanically, in a manner which will be described further on.

As the sheets 27 are being removed, one by one, by the suction feed mechanism described, it becomes necessary to raise the stack of.sheets. This is accomplished by rais ng the table 26 by means of the following mechanism (Figs. '1, 3, 4 5 and 6): In bearings of the frame 20.21, at a point above the inclined table- 74, is arranged a transverse rock shaft 93. carrying rigidly a lever 94 to the free end of which is secured,

also 'rigidly, an arm 95 having at its end a roller 96 preferably made of rubber or.

other soft material and adapted to engage from above the stack of sheets on the table 3 26. The effective length ofthe arm 95 can be varied and for this purpose it is mounted on a stud 97 movable in a slot 98 (Fig. -6)

provided in the lever 94, screws 99'servinq 100 to hold the stud 97 in any adjusted nosit'on. g Theiposition of the arm 95 relatively tothe lever 94 can also be changed by changing the angle between the two members, a wingedclamp nut 100 serving to secure thernfflto gether rigidly in any adjusted position. 'QOn.

I the rodkshaft 93 is secured rigidly st-short.

crank 101 (Figs. 3 and 5) pivotal y connected with an am '102 having a forked end-g, engaging the-camshaft 57 and carrwme adjacent to this forked end a. roller103eng'aaed by a cam 104"rigidl v secured to the" e rn shaft 57." The cam 104 has two concentric portions 104', 10 of different radii'seip-fl arated by short rising and falling portions The concentr c cam portion controlh no-' sition of the arm 95 and roller 96 relativelv 'to the stack of sheets 27 the cam su face 10 1', allowing the roller 96 to drop down and refl on the stack (Figs. 4 and .6), while- 2 the cam surface 104' lifts-the roller 96 out of the way (Fig. 5). allowing the uopermost,- sheet to be r moved. as described above.

On one of the ends of the. rock shaft 9 is secured rigidly onejend of marm 105 (Figs. 3 5 and 5) carrying at i s other end a p n 106 adapted. to engage at time; a bar 107 suspended freelv from an extension 61' prefra 1v integral with-on 0+ the arms 61. The arlm moves up and down A or projection'108. engaging the edge of said with the arm 61 and is cut awayfat. its lower end to form a tooth 108 engaging at'times aplate 109 provided at the free 'e'ndof the lever- 42, adjacent 'to an opening 110 in said lever through which the lower end. of the bar 107 1 extends. An adjustable weight 111 tends to normally hold the bar 107 in such a position that the tooth 108 is out of engagement with the plate 109 as shown in Fig. 5, so that the-bar'107 in its up-anddown movement slides in the. openingllO without affecting the lever 42. -Under certain conditions, however the bar 107 during its downward movement, is pressed against the plate 109'as shown in Fig. 5 the tooth plate and rocking the-lever 42 downwardly. This rockingnof the lever 42 will. cause the pawl to feed the; ratchet. 39 in the direction of the arrow indicatedin Fig. 5, thereby rotating the shaft 38 and. by means .ofthe pinion 37 and rack 36, raising the table The relative arrangement between the stack. of sheets 27 and the table elevating device is such that, with the uppermost with the roller 96. by moving down intocontact with this lowered surface, will cause the pm 106 on the arm to swing the bar 107 towardthe'left .as shown inFig. 5 so that, when this bar moves downward. it will cause the lever 42 to rock. thus effecting a raising of the table 26 and stack 27 as described above (seeFig. 5*). As soon as the table 26 has been sufliciently raised to again bring the uppersheet "of the stack 27 into proper relation to the feeding mechanism. the parts will move without affecting theposition of the table 26 (see Fig. 5). It is to be understood, of course that the raising of the table takes place before the surface of the stack of sheets has been lowered sufficiently to interrupt the feeding of sheets by the air-feed mechanism. A spring 112 (Fig. 1) attached to the frame and to the arm 105 tends to swing the arm 95 into contact with thestack of sheets 27.

The gum-applying 'or' gluing'roll 77 recontact with another roll 113, arranged underneath the roll 77 and rotating in a glue receptacle or pan 114. The pressure between the two rolls 77 and 113 can be altered to vary the thickness ofithe film of glue trans- .mitted from the one roll ,to the other, and

for this purpose the roll 113 is inounted rotatably in brackets 115 fulcrumed on the frames 20, 21 at 116 (Fig.4) and provided with handles 117. ,Screws 118 bearing against spring-pressed plungers 119 (Fig. 1) held in slidably suitable frame portions 120 serve to regulate the pressure between the two rolls 77 and 113. The glue pan 114 70 is provided with a heating jacket 121 and is supported on brackets 122 mounted for upand-down movement between the frames 20, 21, the latter being provided with suitable guiding members 123. The brackets 122 are 75 provided with slots 124 through which extends a transverse shaft 125 carrying adj acent to the brackets 122, eccentrics 126 on which rest rollers 127 carried at suitable points of the brackets 122.- The eccentrics 0 126 control the position of the brackets 122 and thereby the position of the glue pan 114; forthe purpose. of rocking the shaft 125 and thereby rotating the eccentrics 126, the shaft 125 is provided with a lever 128 hav- 85 ing at its free end a handle 129 and carrying at a suitable point a sliding pin 130 (F ig.

2) forced by'a spring 131, into engagement with a segment 132 secured on the frame 20 and provided with spaced projections 133 90 which serve as stops for the pin 130, to arg rest the movement of the shaft 125 and thus hold the glue pan 114 in either its raised or its lowered position.

The various parts of the machine may be 95 driven in the following manner (Figs. 1, 2

and 4).: From a motor 134 a belt 135 extends over a pulley 136 mounted on a transverse shaft 137, which latter carries a.pinion 138 in mesh with 'a, gear 139 on a, stubshaft 139*- on which is also mounted a sprocket 140. From this sprocket a chain 141 ex-- tends over a sprocket'142 on the camshaft 57. This sprocket 142, however, is not mounted rigidly on the shaft 57,'but is free to turn relatively thereto and adapted to be coupled therewith by a coupling device which will be described further on. On the shaft 137v is also mounted a sprocket 143 which drives, by means of a chain 144, a sprocket 145 mountd on the feed roller 75; thelatter carv ries a gear 146 in meshwith' a pinion 147 on a stud 148, the pinion 147 also meshing with a gear 149 mounted rigidly on the shaft of the glue roll 77, "a clutch mechanism to be described below serving to couple the gear 149 at times with a gear 150 loose on the shaft of the glue roll 77. The gear 149 is in mesh with a gear 151 on the shaft of the lue-roll 113 whilethe rear 150 m hes ceives its supply of adhesive by rotating in b b es the shaft 137 by a chain 158.

For the purpose indicated above, of givmg the sheet-feeding mechanism an intermittent-movement, we have, provided the fol- .13

lowing one-revolution I clutc mechanism, shown in Figs; .1, 2, 9, wand 11. With the sprocket 142, rotating freely on the .cam s aft 57 isconnected, as by riveting, a sleeve 159 having in its free radial face a series of sockets 160 any one of which. is engaged at times by a key 161 slidable lengthwise of the a lever 168 fulcrumed on the frame at 169, this lever being connected at its other end with a link 170 connected to one end of a double-armed lever 171 fulcrumed on the transverse shaft 43. The other arm'of the lever 171' is connected with one end of a rod 172 the other end. ofvwhich is in operative connection with the machine to whichthe sheets are fed from the conveyor 80. The arrangement of parts is such that when the lever 168 is out of engagement with the groove 165 and the key slot 166, the ,key 161, under the action of a spring 173, is pressed into one of the sockets 160 of the sleeve 159,

and the cam shaft 57 is thus coupled to the sprocket 142 and revolves with the latter.

When, however, as shown in Fig. 10, the lever 168 is swung into the groove 165, the camsurface 167 will extend into the path of the revolving key 161, the latter riding up so to speak, with its. transverse slot 166 on said cam surface, thus compelling the ke to move rearward, a ainst the tension 0 the spring 173, that is, out of the recess 160 with'which it has been in engagement. The cam shaft '57 will thus come to a stop, the

vsprocket l42now rotating idly on said shaft.

By alternately swinging the lever 168 into its key-releasing and key-engaging posi- "t-ions,the cam shaft 57.will be rotated for one revolutionandwill'stop aftereach revolutioii until released for the next one.

- "The .device forgiving. the conveyor mechanism an intermittentmovement, is as. follows: The disk 163 is provided; with a cam surface- 174' formed by segments .attached "to said disk, for. instanceby-means of bolts 174",this cam surface engaging a roller 175 one level 176 fulcrumed at 177. At

other en d the lever 176 is provided with a Yfor'k178 (Figs. 1 and 12) engagin the hub time gea -r150. This gear 150 an the gear 149-are provided with mating tooth-clutch surfaces 179 which are brought into or out of engagement by sliding the gear 150 onits shaft, this movement being effected by swinging the lever 176 on its fulcrum 177. A tension spring 180 (Fig. 1) holds the roller 175 in engagement with the cam surface 174; the coupling surfaces 179 are therefore in engagement with each other when the roller 17 5 travels in contact with the low portions of the cam surface 174, and out of engagement when the roller 17 5 is moved outward by the raised portions of the cam surface 174. In the latter event, the gear 150 is uncoupled from the constantly revolvin gear 149, and the conveyor mechanism is thereby brought to a stop. The relative length of the high and low portions of the cam surface 174 can be altered to vary the length of stoppage of the conveyor, so as to change the distance between successive sheets or labels on the conve or.

For the purpose of stoppmg the suctionfeed mechanism and, if desired, also the feed rollers and the glue rolls, We have provided the following device (Figs. 1, 2, 7, 8 and 12): In a stationary sleeve 181 on the frame 20 is fulcrumed a rod 182 having at its upper end a suitable handle 183 (Figs. 1 and 2) and at its lower end a sector 184 (Figs. 1 and 12) provided in its outer surface with a relatively deep notch 185 and two relatively shallow notches 186, the notch 185 being shown in engagement, in Fig. 12, with one end of a rod 187 extending transversely of the machine and guided for lengthwise movement in suitable parts of the frames 20, 21. The other end of the rod 187 is normally held close to--the lever 89 of the valve 88 (Figs. 3, 7 and 8) in such a position that when said lever is raised by;

the cam 92, as described above, the rod 18 can be pushed under said lever and keep the latter in its raised position notwithstanding the fact that the cam 92 during the con-' tinned rotation of the cam disk 59 would otherwise permit the lever 89 to drop to .a position in which the roller 91 engages the lower portion of the cam (position. shown in Fi 7). By this maintalning. the lever 89 in its raised position the casing 88 will be keptopen to the'outside air, and-no suction will be exerted in the suction arm 67, 68. A coiled spring 188 (Fig. 3) tends to keep the rod 187 in its retracted position, in engagement with the notch 185 on the sector 184. To bring the rod 187 to its projected position just described, the handle 183 is given a slight turn so as to bringthe nearest one I of the notches 186 on the sector 184 into registry with the rod 187. This however, is possible onlywhile the lever 89 is raised by the cam 92 and the-valve 88' is open, that is, after a sheet or label has been released" by the' suction-arm'67, 68, and seized by subsequent machine parts and before another sheet or label is taken up by such arm; at any path of the rod 187.

As indicated disconnect at times the gears 146, 147 drivabove it is also desirable to other time. the lever 89 lies in the It will be seen that when the sector 184 is ing the feed rollers and the gluing rolls, from the pulley 145. To accomplish this we have provided the following mechanism: The sector 184 is extended to the other side of the rock shaft 182 and this extension 189 is provided with a slot 190 having a concentric portion 191 followed by an eccentric portion 192. Into this slot extends a pin 193 provided at one end of a lever 194 fulcrumed at 195 on a stationary bracket 196; The other end of the lever 194 is forked and engages a slot in a coupling sleevemounted slidabl on the shaft of the feeding rollers 75. T e sleeve forms part of a coupling 197 by means of which the gear 146 is coupled to or uncoupled from the sprocket i145.

swung from the position shown in Fig. 12 to a position in which the end of the rod 187 engages the notch 186 nearest to the notch 185, this movement will not affect the position of the pin 193, the latter staying in its position, while the concentric slot portion 191 moves along such pin. When, however, the sector 184 is swung from a position in which the rod 187 engages such first notch 186, to a position in which the rod engages that notch 186 which is remote from the notch 185, the eccentric slot portion 192 comes into operation and swings the 7 pin 193 inwardly, that is toward, the center of the notches 186 to a position in which" such rod enga es the other notch 186, will not affect t e position. of the rod 187,

that is-to say, this rod will remain in a position in which its other end engages the lever 89 (Fig. 7 so that during the movement just descri ed the valve 88' will remain open and the suction will thus'continue to be interrupted. Asa further means of keeping the lever 89 in its valve openin position, we have indicated in Figs. 7 an -8 a lever 198 fulcrumed at 199; this lever may be operated by means of a cord or wire 200 to bring its one end beneath the lever 89, a spring 201 tending to hold the lever 198 in its retracted osit on.

The operation 0 the machine 1s asfollows: The mechanism is preferably started in such a way that the suction arm does not operate at once, that is, the glue rolls are first allowed to revolve until the roll 77 has been evenly coated with adhesive. The

sprocket 142 at this time rotates idly. If

then it is desired to start the operation of the'suction mechanism, this is accomplished swinging the level 168 to the left (Fig. thereby releasing the key 161, so that the 1 hereinafter.

cam shaft 57 the rollers 60 will reach the latter will be moved, under the action of the spring 173, into engagement with one or the other of the recesses 160 provided in the collar 159. The "cam shaft 57 is thus coupled to the 'rotatin sprocket 142. The lever 168 is operate either automatically through the medium of the rod 172 from the machine to which the gummed labels are supplied, or manually by means of a crank handle 43 fixed on the shaft 43 as shown in Fig. 3. Whenever the lever 168 is swung to the left (Fig. 1) the cam shaft starts to rotate with the sprocket 142. If then, during the rotation of the cam shaft 57 the lever 168 is swung back toward the right the key 161 will ride up, so to speak, on' the inclined or cam surface 167 of the lever 168, thuscausing the cam shaft to be disconnected from the sprocket 142 after each revolution. We thus obtain the desired intermittent operation, as explained During the rotation of the per surface of the-stack of sheets or the like resting on thetable or support 26. At the same time suction 1s exerted inthe passage I 69 of the suction arm. This suction will draw the upper sheet up into contact with most sheets through the pipe 82 and passages 81 will tend to separate the uppermost sheet from the succeeding sheets. As the rollers 60 reach the portion 12, of the cam groove 58, the brackets will be raised, lifting the suction member 67, 68 together with the uppermost sheet adhering thereto. The brush 85 prevents any of the other sheets from following the uppermost sheet during its removal.

During this time the roller 66, together with the lever 65 and the link 64 has simply taken part in the lowering and raising movement ofthe suction arm. After the rollers 60 have reached the long concentric portion a, of the cam groove 58', the roller 66 enters the relatively long falling portion, d,'of the cam groove 58". This will cause'the lever 65 to be lowered,thus rocking the shaft 63 in its bearings and swinging the suction arm 67, 68 forward, that is, toward the left in Figs. 4 and 5. This movement will take ers. In such case the next movement of the cam shaft 57 causes the sheet or the like to be moved into contact with the feed rollers 75, 76, the suction in said suction arm being interrupted simultaneously, so that the sheet will be released by said suction arm and will be taken up by'said feed rollers, which move it into contact with the gumming roll 77, which latter rotates in the direction indicated bythe arrow in Fig. 5. The sheet or the likein-passing over this gumming roll is covered on one side with a coating of adhesive and is removed from said glue roll by a series of take-up fingers 78 which lead the gummed sheet or the like unto the conveyor 80. The latter takes the sheet, label or the like to its place of use, such as for instance a machine for applying the sheet or label to articles (boxes, cans. or the like) for which it is intended.

Durin the feeding of the sheet or label, as just escribed, the table elevating device operates as follows: The cam shaft 57 r0- tates in a clockwise direction (Fig. 5 As shown in this view the suction arm 67, 68 is just starting on its return movement. multaneously therewith theroller 103 on the arm 102 is allowed to move down the descending portion of the and 104. This, movement will cause the shaft 93 to bethe downward movement of the arm '95 will not affect the position of the table 26 and-the stack of sheets 27. As soon however as suflicient sheets have been removed to bring. the upper surface of the stack below the prede- 'termined level, the arm 95, by swinging down into contact with the upper surface of the stack, will cause the pin 106 on the arm 105 to move into contact with the bar 107, swinging the latter toward the left (Fig. 5). This will bring the lower end ofthe bar 107 into a position in which during its up and down movement the projection 108 on said. bar 107 will be pressed into contact with the wall of the opening 110 in the lever 42. As shown in Fig- 5 the bar 107 is suspended from the extension 61 on one of. the brack ratchet 39 in an anti-clockwise direction (Fig. 5). This rotation of the ratchet 39 will cause the table 26- to be raised through the intermediary of the pinion'37 and rack .36. It understood that (this feeding move- 'ment of the table be ins before there is any danger of the stack evel falling sufiiciently to interrupt the operation of the suctionlarni 67, 68. As soon as the table 26 has been sufficiently raised, the arm 95 by coming into contact with the raised surface of the stack, will interrupt the feeding of the table or support 26, as will be clear from Figs. 5 and 5; As long as the upper surface of the stack 27 is above the predetermined level the bar 107 will sim ly move up and down and its lower recesse end will pass through the opening in the lever 42 without affecting the position of said lever.

When it is desired to interrupt the feeding of the sheets from the stack 27, without otherwise affecting the o eration of the machine, this may be done y interrupting the suction exerted in the suction member 68. For this purpose the handle 183 is moved in such a way as to bring the sector 18 1 from the position shown in Fig. 12 to a position in which the rod 187 engages one of the notches 186 on said sector 184. This movement will cause the rod 187 to move toward the left (Fig. 3), against the tension of the spring 188, so that the left hand end (Fig. 3) of said rod will come to a position under tln valve lever 89, thus keeing such lever in a valve-opening position so that air will be drawn into the pi e 87 through the open valve 88, and not t rough the suction member 68. i The rod 187, however, is normally in such a position that it cannot be brought to the valve-opening position just described,

unless the valve is already in such an open position owing to the en agement of the roller 91 with the cam sur ace 92 (Fig. 7), so that the suction cannot be interrupted manually until after the sheet held on the suction arm 68 hasbeen released and has passed over the glue roll 77. We thus effectively prevent the untimely dropping of sheets or labels by the suction mechanism, If then it is desired to also stop the operation of the feed rollersv and glue. rolls the handle 183 is given a further movement to bring the sector extension 189 (Fig. 12) to a position in which the pin 193 is moved inwarcl' by the slot ortion 192, thus causing the lever 194 to 150011119013 the pulley 145 from the shaft ofthe feed roller and allowing the feed roller 75 and the 'glue 1 611 '77-and 123 to come to a, stop.

"Various changes in the specific form x shown and described 'may be made'within the scope .of the claims without departing from the spirit of the'invention.

We claim: 1. In a machine for'removing sheets from a stack, a support for the stack of sheets,

a-suc-tion arm, -a rock shaft on which said suctlon arm is mounted, and means for. operating sald rock shaft to first move said suction arm toward and from said support tion arm toward and from said support to" and then swing said-suction arm away from said support.

2. In a machine for removin sheets from a stack, a support for the Staci of sheets, a suction arm, a rock shaft on which said suc tion arm is mounted, a slide carrying said rock shaft, a cam shaft for operating said slide to move said suction arm toward and from said support, and meanson said rock shaft for subsequently swinging said suction arm away from said support.

3. In a machine for removing sheets from a stack, a support for the stack of sheets, a suction arm, a rock shaft on which said suction arm is mounted, means for operatlng said rock shaft to first move said suction arm toward and from said support and then swing said suction arm away from said support, and means interposed in the connection between said rock shaft and said suction arm forallowing the latter to yield from such swinging movement if there is an obstruction in its pass.

4. In a machine for removing sheets from a stack, a support for the stack of sheets, a

suction arm, means for moving said suction arm toward and from said support to remove the uppermost sheet from said stack,-

means for exerting suction in said arm during its active movement, and means for blowing air between the uppermost sheets of the stack to assist the separation of the upper .sheet. from the stack.

5. In a machine for removing sheets from a stack, a support for the stack of sheets, a suction arm, means for moving sald sucremove the uppermost sheet from said stack,

and a brush arran ed above the upper surface of said stack in the path of movement of said uppermost sheet as it is carried by said suction arm from said stack for preventing more than one sheet from being taken .up by said suction arm.

6. In a machine for removing sheets from a stack, a support for the stack of sheets,

mechanism for removing one sheet after another from the top of the stack, Said mechanism comprising a cam shaft, meansv for driving said cam shaft, means for interrupting the operation of the cam shaft after each revolution, without stopping said driv ing means.

7. In a machine for removing sheets from.

y a stack, a support for the stack of sheets,

mechanism for removmg one sheet after an other from the top of the stack, conveyor mechanism for receiving the sheet from said removing mechanism, means for driving said removing mechanism intermittently, and an operative connection between said two mechanisms for also dri ing said conveyor mechanism intermittently.

suction arm, means for moving said suction arm toward and from said support to remove the uppermost sheets from said stack, means for exerting suction in said arm during its active movement, said means-comprising a valve, means for automatically opening said valve to. release said sheet from said arm, and mechanism for holding said Valve open notwithstanding the continuing operation of said suction arm.

9; In a machine for removing sheets from a stack, a support for the stack of sheets, a suction arm, means for moving said suction arm toward and from said support to remove the uppermost sheet from said stack, means for exerting suction in. said arm during'its active movement, said means comprising a valve, means for automatically opening said valve to release said sheet from 10. In a machine for removing sheets from a stack, a support for the stack of sheets, feeding mechanism, means for removin the uppermost sheet from the stack and-de ivering it to said feeding mechanism, a drive for said feeding mechanism, means for disconnecting said .feeding mechanism from its drive, and means for preventing said disconnecting means from being brought into operation before said sheet has been received by said feeding mechanism.

11. In a machine of the character set forth, a movable support for a stack of sheets, a reciprocating arm provided withmean's for engaging the uppermost sheet of said stack and removing it therefrom,and-amember connected with said af'm and movableinto contact with the top surface of said-stack,

feeding mechanism for elevating said support,,a normally disconnected connecting device interposed between said feeding mechanism and said member and means operated by said arm for causing said device to be connected for automatically operating said feeding mechanism when the upper surface below a predetermined of said stack falls level.

12. Ina machine of the character set forth, I

a support for a stack of sheets, mechanism for removing one sheet after another from the top of the stack, and means 0 eratively connected with said mechanism or maintaining the upper surface of said stack of sheets between predetermined levels, said means comprising amember adapted to be brought into contact with the upper surface of said stack, a feeding mechanism for ele-- vating said support and stack, a normally disconnected connecting device interposed between said member and feeding mechanism and means operated by the movement of said member to cause said device to be connected when the upper surface of said stack falls below a certain predetermined level.

13. In a machine of the character set forth, a movable support for a stack of sheets, a reciprocating arm provided with means for engaging and removing the uppermost sheet from said stack, a member operatively connected with said arm and movable into contact with the top surface of said stack, feeding mechanism for elevating said support and means for automatically operating said feeding mechanism to maintain the upper surface of said stack between predetermined levels, said means comprising a separable 14. In a sheet feeding mechanism, a sup- 4 port for a stack of sheets, a sheet engaging device mounted on a movable arm, and means for imparting a reciprocating and oscillating movement to said arm comprisinga single rock shaft, cams, and operating levers connected with said rock shaft and actuated by said cams.

In testimony whereof we have signed this specification.

MARTIN FEYBUSCH. PAUL W. FLEISGHER. 

